On Sept. 12, 1782, the Continental Congress endorsed Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken’s Bible, the first complete English-language Bible printed in America. Nearly 250 years later, Americans can access Scripture in print, online, through apps, and even in audio form. But access to the Bible is not the same as knowing how to study it.
The American Bible Society’s 2026 State of the Bible report found that 28% of American adults fall into what researchers call the “Movable Middle” — people who are open or curious about the Bible but are not deeply engaged with Scripture. The organization also reported that overall Bible use and Scripture engagement have returned roughly to 2024 levels.
This week’s Ministries Making a Difference looks at five Christian ministries helping people move from Bible access to Bible understanding — through inductive Bible study, group study, biblical storytelling, and digital Bible study tools.
At MinistryWatch, we spend much of our time examining transparency, accountability, stewardship, waste, fraud, and abuse. Ministries Making a Difference highlights another part of the picture: ministries doing notable work in their communities and around the world.
photo, precept.org
Precept Ministries International
For years, Jayne carried a Bible to church on Sunday and returned it to the shelf afterward. Though she had grown up in church and professed faith as a child, she did not understand salvation or what a relationship with God involved. At age 24, she joined a Precept study. Through its inductive method, Jayne learned to examine the text and consider Scripture’s larger context. She now leads about 40 women through Bible studies and teaches the same methods to her children.
Precept Ministries International teaches participants to observe what a passage says, interpret what it means and apply it. Its resources encourage readers to ask who, what, when, where, why and how rather than relying solely on someone else’s conclusions.
The ministry reports more than 2 million participants and 250,000 active Bible-study leaders. Precept has a 3-Star Financial Efficiency Rating, an A Transparency Grade and a Donor Confidence Score of 100 in the MinistryWatch database.
photo, walkthru.org
Walk Thru the Bible
Pastor Leonard Ntinda oversees 32 churches across Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, including congregations in villages far from paved roads and schools. Although he holds a master’s degree in theology and spent nine years in formal study, a recent Walk Thru the Bible course gave him a simpler way to communicate Scripture’s larger story. Ntinda called the method “portable Bible clarity.” He now uses words, movements and images from the ministry’s Old Testament training to equip rural pastors and teach people just beginning to read. He is also working to translate the approach into Otjiherero, a language spoken in the communities he serves.
Walk Thru the Bible uses interactive live events, reading plans, podcasts and church campaigns to help people understand Scripture as one connected narrative.
The ministry says its work reaches 130 countries. Walk Thru the Bible has a 3-Star Financial Efficiency Rating, an A Transparency Grade and a Donor Confidence Score of 100 in the MinistryWatch database.
bsfinternational.org
Bible Study Fellowship
After spending several years in prison, Beatrice returned to her community in Kenya but struggled to find women willing to help her grow in her faith. Then she joined a Bible Study Fellowship group studying “Exile and Return.” Beatrice said the subject felt personal: prison had been her exile, and returning home meant beginning again after losing nearly everything. Her group became a source of community as she started a ministry for children and parents separated by adversity.
Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) offers free, in-depth studies through weekly lectures, personal questions, group discussion and written notes. More than 500,000 people participate in its 30-week studies or use its WordGo app.
Bible Study Fellowship has a 5-Star Financial Efficiency Rating, a C Transparency Grade and a Donor Confidence Score of 96 in the MinistryWatch database.
photo, communitybiblestudy.org
Community Bible Study
A primary school student named Buntu once stole from others. After joining a Community Bible Study class in Burundi, in east-central Africa, he learned to read and understand Scripture for himself and said he no longer steals. Buntu encouraged parents to send their children to the classes so they could learn what the Bible teaches about sin.
Community Bible Study works throughout the world offering studies for adults, teenagers and children through local and online groups. Its model combines individual study, group discussion, teaching and commentary rather than separating personal reading from Christian community.
Community Bible Study has a 5-Star Financial Efficiency Rating, an A Transparency Grade and a Donor Confidence Score of 100 in the MinistryWatch database.
photo, blueletterbible.org
Blue Letter Bible
A Christian trying to understand the Hebrew or Greek behind a biblical passage once needed shelves of reference books — or expensive Bible software. Blue Letter Bible puts many of those tools online for free. The ministry gives readers access to original-language lexicons and interlinear texts, dictionaries, concordances, commentaries, sermons, reading plans and Bible-search tools. Its library includes thousands of commentaries and other resources linked directly to individual verses, allowing readers to move from the biblical text into word studies and related passages without leaving the site.
Blue Letter Bible also operates a free online Bible institute with self-paced courses in biblical studies, doctrine, apologetics and Christian life. The ministry says the courses are intended to supplement the local church and make deeper biblical education available to people who may not have access to formal Bible classes.
Blue Letter Bible has a 2-Star Financial Efficiency Rating, a C Transparency Grade and a Donor Confidence Score of 76 in the MinistryWatch database (Give with Confidence).
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